Magic man Flynn sprinkles a little glitter on Stirling
By Alison Young
Details
cambio barcafe
1 Corn Exchange
Stirling
Stirlingshire
FK8 2HX
01786 461041
Somebody has been sprinkling a little bit of glitter over Stirling's less than glamourous nightlife.
Chief wand-waver is Brian Flynn and if you've come across his Falkirk flagship, Behind The Wall - a bar, restaurant and microbrewery combined - you'll have sussed that Mr Flynn could be central Scotland's answer to the Glasgow-based impresario Stephan King.
cambio, meaning change in Italian, is Flynn's latest venture and Stirling punters have a real bargain after always seeming to be shortchanged by Gingers - his former venture on the same site.
But maybe that was just a bluff as Gingers has been swapped for cambio - a mix of Scandinavian simplicity and a Scottish bar.
Ingeniously extending an old bank building across a side lane, cambio's got bits of nifty architecture everywhere - a maze of mezzanines, balconies and stairways.
Lots of blonde wood and stainless steel is the norm nowadays, but skylights and a few interesting bits and pieces - like a forest of fibre optic lights and tiling offset by pebbled walls - stop it from being too clinical. Although there's a wee bit opposite the bar where it looks like everyone's hanging out having a chat in the loos.
On the other hand, having a chat in the loos here is a classy experience. And a calorie- burning climb of the original staircases is worth it for an impressive, high glam powder room. Opened at the end of last year, there's a few finishing touches still to be added.
Lights and a canopy at the entrance are planned, which made me feel better after trying to get through three non- entrances. Once inside, you can choose your perch according to your mood and reason for being there.
A menu ranging from stovies to stir-fries is available until 8pm and you can eat while people- watching in the circular area that converts into a dancefloor at weekends. There's a daytime non-smoking area, a separate chill- out room at night and, of course, those balconies and the mezzanine. cambio is calm in the daytime and chic and riotous at night.
It's quieter early in the week, but on weekends there's hardly room to swig the cut- price cocktail pitchers that are on offer.
Packed to its stylish rafters, the mainstream, mixed-ages crowd is happy to make use of the late licence rather than have to venture off in search of a late- opening club.
And as a tartan-free place for the tourists, cambio has filled a void in Stirling's social life - and not before time.
Open: Mon-Thu, 11am-midnight; Fri and Sat, 11am-1am; Sun, noon-midnight
Food: Wed-Sun, 11am-8pm
Drinks: Pint lager, £2.15; spirit and mixer, £2.25; glass of wine, £2.50
Rating: 3
Details
01786 461041
Lots of blonde wood and stainless steel is the norm nowadays, but skylights and a few interesting bits and pieces - like a forest of fibre optic lights and tiling offset by pebbled walls - stop it from being too clinical. Although there's a wee bit opposite the bar where it looks like everyone's hanging out having a chat in the loos.
On the other hand, having a chat in the loos here is a classy experience. And a calorie- burning climb of the original staircases is worth it for an impressive, high glam powder room. Opened at the end of last year, there's a few finishing touches still to be added.
Lights and a canopy at the entrance are planned, which made me feel better after trying to get through three non- entrances. Once inside, you can choose your perch according to your mood and reason for being there.
A menu ranging from stovies to stir-fries is available until 8pm and you can eat while people- watching in the circular area that converts into a dancefloor at weekends. There's a daytime non-smoking area, a separate chill- out room at night and, of course, those balconies and the mezzanine. cambio is calm in the daytime and chic and riotous at night.
It's quieter early in the week, but on weekends there's hardly room to swig the cut- price cocktail pitchers that are on offer.
Packed to its stylish rafters, the mainstream, mixed-ages crowd is happy to make use of the late licence rather than have to venture off in search of a late- opening club.
And as a tartan-free place for the tourists, cambio has filled a void in Stirling's social life - and not before time.
Open: Mon-Thu, 11am-midnight; Fri and Sat, 11am-1am; Sun, noon-midnight
Food: Wed-Sun, 11am-8pm
